Automatic sounding-rod.



J. VALLARO.

AUTOMATIC SOUNDING ROD. APPLICATION FILED NOV. 24, 1911.

Patented Nov. 26; 1918.

2 swans-sum l.

INVENTOR dadlil d/hra BY w/r/vsssks:

ATTORNEYS J. VALLARO.

AUTOMATIC SOUNDING ROD. APPLICATION FILED NOV. 24, 1917- Patented Nov26, 1918 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

WIT NESSES A 11mm 33,0, i31 MQEFTEVIDIES, URUGUfeY.

Specification of Letters Patent.

EFat-ented Nov. 1918.

Application filed ll'OVCF-hbii 2%, 3.912". sari-(111cc. 203,?88.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that l, JUAN VApLAno, a citizen-oi Uruguay, and a resident oil/ionizevideo, in the Republic ofUruguay. have invented a new and Improved. iutomatic Soundin -Rod ofwhich the foilowin is a full, clear, and exact description.

This invention relates to sounding devices and has for an object theprovision of an ship for indicating exactly the position of the rod andconsequently the relative position of the keel of the ship with thebottom of the body of water in which the ship positioned.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a sounding devicewith an indicating mechanism interiorly of a ship for indicating thegeneral contour of the bottom of the river or other body of waterincluding small 8 is c. sectiona th i l .5

e is fragmentary sections. view through Fig. 2 on line -i-'-i-.

Fig. 5 1s a trans erse sectional view through Fig. 2 on line 55.

Fig. 6 is top plan view of a softbottom indicating plate and part of thedepth rod.

Fig. 7 is a diagram showing the arrangementof the wiring for indicating;the up and down movement of the depth rod.

Reicrri. I to the accompanying drawings by numerais. indicates a ship ofany desired kind having; a heel to which the depth rod 3 isconnected bymeans ofalinl: i which is pivotally connected with the depth rod by asuitable pin and also by another pin to the keel 2. in a ship having"very low heel or no keel at all an additional block or false -reel mustbe provided in order that the.

depth rod 8 ma Y be moved upwardly t0 the dotted position shown in -Fig.1 and then downwardly as far as the powerrod 5 and associate parts willpermit. A guide rod 6 is pivotally mounted at 7 on the keel of ship 1,and said rod is bifurcated at the lower end so that the depth rod 8 maypass therethrough and also that anti-friction wheels 8 and 9 may beprovided for allowing s free sliding movement while rod 6 pivotallymoves on the pin 7. There is provided sufficient play between therollers 8 and 9 for permitting the rod 3 to move upwardly to the dottedline in Fig. 1 and downwardly a predetermined distance. At the lower endof rod 3 is a soft'mud plate 10 which is rigidly secured thereto in anydesired manner as for instance by bolts, said plate being preferablythin on the edges and somewhat rounded as shown in Fig. 6, whereby thesame will freely pass through the water, but when the lower end of therod 3 strikes soft mud the plate 10 will rest thereon and consequentlylift rod 5 if the mud bottom is above a certain depth. Rod 5'isconnected with the depth rod 3 by a pin 11 operating in the slot 12.Pi'eieiiably the rod 3 is formed with a slot at the point where the slot12 is located so that the pin 11 may pass entirely through the end ofrod 5 and be journaled in the slot 12. W hen a high point in the bottomis engaged the lower end of the rod 3 will be moved upwardly andconsequcntly rod 5 will he moved upwardly, while the bottom aconsiderable distance below the bottom of the ship the depth rod illmove downwardly and will carry with it, by re 1 W ht, rod 5 and partsconc lll'ltll stopped by means hereinaite. hol described.

The power rod 5 extends through the bottom of the boat and through apacking box 13 rigidly secured to the boat whereby no water can enterinto the boat nor into the boxing. or casing. 14 surrounding the upperpart of rod 5 which is secured to the packing box 13.

The boxing or casing 14 extends upwardly any desired distance, and isbent upon itself so as to extend downwardly to provide a down-leg l isubstantially parallel with the up-leg. The lower part of the casing 1%is cut away at the point where it bends and an anti-friction wheel 15'is provided for receiving a supporting chain 16. The link in generalstructure is-round in cross section by reason of the fact the principallinks are round and connected by similar connecting links, 'whereby anupward push of. the rod 5 will cause the chain to move in one directionand adownward pull will cause the chain to move in the opposltedirection. 'Each of these links-is provided with a threaded aperture '17and certain of the links provided with an aperture at right anglesthereto for receiving a bolt 18 which acts as a stop under certaincircumstances. If desired all of the links could beprovided withapertures at right angle to the corresponding apertures 17, though thisis not usually necessary. Chain 16 is rigidly connected with the shaft 5in any suitable manner, which shaft is preferably provided with a flange19Iat the upper end larger than the aperture through which the shaft orrod. passes whereby the shaft or rod cannot move down beyond a certainpoint, and a brake 21 is provided, preferably near the wheel 15, saidbrake being formed with a shoe 22 adapted to press against the variouslinks 16' as they pass, said shoe being continually pressed by a spring23 held under tension by an adjusting screw 2%, whereby any pressure maybe provided for preventing the upward movement oi the chain caused bythe pressure of water against the rod 3 when the vessel is moving. Thedown-leg- 14' of the casing is provided with a slot 25 through which thestop 26 may extend as shown in Fig. 5 when applied to any of the links16'. A chain or cable-27 is connected to the end link 16' as shown inFig. 1 and then passes over pulley 28 to a drum 29 whereby the operationof drum 29, either manually or by machinery, chain 16 may be pulled andthe depth rod 3 moved upwardly tov the dotted position shown in Fig. 1,or lowered to any desired extent. Arranged at one side of the down-leg 1L of the chain casing is a sup porting arm or bracket 30 made of any desired material, preferably of metal, said bracket being provided withupstanding members 31 and 32, which upstanding members have longitudinalgrooves 33 and 34 for receiving and guiding the crossbar 35 whichcarries the pin 36. The cross bar 35 is of such thickness as to freelyslide in the guides 33 and. 34:, but sufliciently tight to remain in.any position in which it is placed. This is very desirable as the stop26 extends across the bracket 30 and moves the pin 36 fromtime to timeas hereinafter fully described. Stop 26 is. provided with a resilientfinger or contact member 37 which normally presses against the insulatedbutton 38, whichbutton is frictionally held in any of the apertures inany of the blocks 40.

From Figs. 1, 2 and 4 it will be seen that thereis provided a number ofblocks, preferably the same number as there are lamps 41 in the bank oflamps 42. These various.

bers are rigidly secured to the casing 14 in any desired way. These areintended as vibrating contacts whereby when the rod 3 is scraping alongon a hard bottom a suflicient vibratio'n will be created for causingthis contact to engage and disengage intermittently and thereby light upintermittently one of the lamps 4:1. Preferably a bell 41K is providedin the circuit so that whenever any of the lamps are lighted the bellwill be sounded.

In voperationafter the parts have been properly positioned on a ship theoperator releases the drum. 29 until the depth rod 3 has been lowered tothe desired extent,-

either for its full distance or part of the distance, and the bolt 18 isinserted into one of the bolt holes or apertures 18, the said boltextending throi'agh an opening in casing 14' as shown in 9 whereby thechain to which it is secured cannot move to any considerable eXt-en'h-As the boat is propelled the pressure of the water will have a tendencyto raise the rod 3 and to overcome thisthe brake 31 is operated untilthis tendency has been completely overcome by friction of the brake onthe chain. This is not sutliciently great for preventing the chain frommoving when the bottom has been. engaged, but merely sufiicient forpreventing the water pressure from raising the chain. In

case the downward pull on the rod 3 andassociate parts is undesirable aweight 45 could be connected with the end of the chain carrying cable 27by applying suitable bolts in some of the apertures 17, and thensupporting weights thereon until a proper bal-' ance is secured. Afterthis has been done bolt 18 is removed and placed in the highest aperture17 disclosed through slot 25 whereby the rod 3 is positively preventedfrom moving downward, but is provided a free upward movement whenstriking the bottom. After bolt 18 has been thus placed in position stop26 is placed in a desired position for instance, the extreme depth towhich the rod 3is permitted to go, as for instance 8 iathoms, indicatedby number eight on one of the blocks -10. The insulating button. 38 isplaced in the block/ll) carrying number eight after which the bar 35with pin 36 is moved upward to block carthe contact-members 43 and 4Awhich mem- J moved notwithstanding the brake 21. 2t?

After the parts have bee ranged as just described the boat may thenproceed to the place where it is desired to survey or ascertain whetheror a sufiicient d 3th is provided for the purpos been this survey istaking place if it (no happen the lower end ofthe rod 3 merely dragsalong over a hard surface the vibration thereof would cause the contactm mbers 43 and a l to intermittently enge nd consequently intermittentlylight the lights, which is preferably a red light so as to indicate whatis happeninm In case a hard surface should be engaged above the desireddepth rod 3 together with thepowcr rod or shaft 5- would be movedupwardly and chain 16 would also Ilia s soonas the chain began to movestop 26 would press against the pin 36 and move the same together withthe finger 37 until the finger 87 moved ofi the button 38 and en- *gagedblock 40 carrying number eight. If the movement was considerable thefinger or contact member 37 would slide over several blocks and stoponly when the upward movement of rod 3 closes. When this occurred therod 3 would move downwardly and would carry the other parts with ituntil it began to assume a former position with the stop 26 opposite theblock 40 car rying number eight. Howeven the pin 36 would. remain at theplace to which it had been moved and would complete a circuit forcontinuously sounding the bell and lighting one of the lights ll. Assoon as the proper information has been noted on a record the pintogether with the finger 37 and associate partsare moved back to theirformer position manually and the end of finger 37 placed on the button38 as shown in Fig. 4. As soon as a high point in the bottoni was againstruck the same thing would reoccur. It is, of course, evident that tooparts may be moved only a short distance or moved fully up to a positionagainst the bottom of the boat and this movement would be conveyed. tothe stop 26 and associate parts.

The soft bottom indicator plate 10 acts inthe same inner as the rod 8 inoperating the chain 16 and associate parts and that rod 3 must extenddownwardly into the soft bottom su'diciently for causing the plate toproduce a sufiicient resistance to raise the shaft 5,

What I ciaim' is:

l. A sounding rod oi the character de scribed comprising a depth rod,means for plrct llv connecting one end of the rod to a ship so that therod will eatthe bottom 5-; tend substantially l' n ituolmal v oi theship, 4 ts pivotal means for guid a movement, a pa said first mentionedrod, said power tending; through the shell of the ship to the interior,and means on the interior of the shipoperated by the up and downmovement of the power rod for indicating the distance between the lowerend of the depth rod and the bottom of the ship.

2. In a sounding rod of the character described, the combination with aship of a. depth roch a link pivotally connected. with one end of saiddepth rod and also pivotally connected with the bottom of said ship, apower rod connected to said depth rod near the lower end of the depthrod, said power rod extending through the shell of the ship, meanspivotally connected with said ship straddling said depth rod forpreventing movement thereot and means connected with said power rodinteriorly of the ship for disclosing the extent of the up and downmovement of the depth rod.

3a A sounding rod of the character dc scribed comprising a depth rodpivotally connected to the bottom of a ship when in ,use, a power rod orshait extending through use. a power rod connected with said depth rodextending into the interior ofthe ship, a tubular member connected withthe ship and extending upwardly and then downwardly so as to provideparallel guides, one of said guides having a slot for almost its entirelength, a flexible member connected with said power rod and positionedin said tubular member, plurality of insulated. blocks arran ed adjacentthe tubular member having the slot therein, a sliding contact incn'iberarranged adjacent said blocks means comiectcd with said flexible memberextending" over said blocks so that when said depth rod is movedupvardly the flexible member will be moved so that the stop open sting s'd sliding contact member will move the same over said blocks inproportion to the movement of the depth rod. and an electricallyoperated signal member connected with each of said blocks so as to givea signal when said contact member moves over the respective blocks.

In a sounding rod of the character described, the combination with aship of depth rod pivotally connected at one end to the bottom of saidship, a power rod entending from near the opposite end of said depthrodand projecting into the interior of said ship, a packing membersurrounding said power rod as it enters the ship, a

5 U-shaped ,tubular guiding rod having one said power rod extendingsubstantially the full length of said Uwshaped member, a cable connectedwith the end of said flexible member whereby the same may be pulled andthe depth rod moved upwardly to a position substantially parallel to thebottom of the ship, signal and indicating means, and a mechanismoperated by said flexible member for actuating said signal andindicating means.

flexible member connected 1 member, a signaling means operated by said.flexible member for indicating the depth 1 .of said depth rod, and anadjustable brake 6. In a sounding rod of the character described thecombination with a shi of a contact depth rod connected with t e bottomof the ship, a power rod connected with said depth rod 'extendin intothe ship, a

acting on said flexible member for overcoming the pressure of the Wateracting on the depth rod.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in thepresence of two subscribing witnesses.

- JUAN VALLARO.

Witnesses:

n -SUM c GEORGE R. VITALY.

with said power

